The forgotten £500,000 fortune of a 70-year-old woman who died more than a decade ago is one of dozens of unclaimed estates with links to Norfolk and Waveney.

The Treasury keeps records of estates which have gone unclaimed - and there are 78 estates with Norfolk and Waveney connections among the 10,000 entries on the public list.

Unclaimed estates are left when people die without making a will, or who have no next of kin.

And that could give people who can prove their connection to them the chance to claim hundreds of thousands.

The values of the estates are not revealed by the Treasury, but details published by the estate hunting firm Fraser and Fraser values one of the estates at close to half a million pounds.

That is the estate of Crystal Hephzibah Gardner, who was born in Aylsham on August 18, 1937. She was unmarried when she died at the age of 70 in Marsham on August 4, 2008. Fraser and Fraser say her estate is valued at £497,518.

Less valuable estates include that of Michael Charles Cleare, born in Guyana on December 8, 1920, who died in Lowestoft on July 22, 2005, leaving an estate valued at £10,000.

That was also the value for the estate of Margaret Hall, born on May 24, 1924, who died in Great Yarmouth on February 16, 2006.

And George William Perfect, born in Horningtoft on April 24, 1929, left an estate valued at £16,000 upon his death in King’s Lynn on March 4, 2006.

People in the area may be entitled to these forgotten fortunes if they can prove they are related to one of the deceased who died without leaving a legal will.

Applications can be received up to 12 years after the person’s death with interest on the money, or 30 years without.

If someone dies without leaving a valid will, then there is an order of priority for those entitled to the estate.

Husband, wife or civil partner are first, before children, grandchildren and great grandchildren, mother and father, siblings and nieces and nephews, half-brothers and sisters, grandparents, uncles and aunts and half uncles and aunts.

People who are not relatives, but who lived with them or care for them, might be able to apply for grants from the estate.